UN to advance Belt and Road Initiative in Asia-Pacific through regional cooperation

UN to advance Belt and Road Initiative in Asia-Pacific through regional cooperation

23 May 2017 08:46

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) --
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) this week re-affirmed its commitment to
support China’s Belt and Road Initiative through its multi-sectoral work in
regional economic cooperation and integration.

“The Belt and Road Initiative represents a long-term transcontinental plan
for enhanced global connectivity and integration. It has the potential to
further position the Asia-Pacific region as an epicentre of growth, trade,
innovation and low carbon development,” said United Nations
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dr. Shamshad
Akhtar.

“ESCAP can facilitate the regional cooperation and coordination needed to
help take the Belt and Road Initiative forward. Our framework agreements in
the fields of transport, ICT and trade provide solid foundations on which
to build. These agreements have the potential to be amended and extended to
help deliver investment and sustain the Belt and Road Initiative’s
momentum.”

Dr. Akhtar highlighted that the Belt and Road Initiative is an integral
part of Asia-Pacific’s regional economic cooperation and integration
programme and that both endeavors offer potential to reinforce each other,
building on negotiated transboundary infrastructure networks. “The Belt and
Road Initiative can benefit from ESCAP's policy and normative frameworks
and standards based on multilateral principles, and utilize the Asian
Highway, the ICT Superhighway and other transboundary infrastructure,” she
added.

Under its partnership with China to assist the implementation of the Belt
and Road Initiative, ESCAP has analyzed the macroeconomic, environmental
and social impact of the initiative’s six priority economic corridors. The
research shows that it will generate substantial benefits for China and
partner countries, with annual welfare gains of $86 to $372 billion.
However, the costs and benefits vary across corridors depending on
geography, development levels, productive capacities and traffic flows.

ESCAP recommends that ‘hard’ infrastructure must also be accompanied by
‘soft’ infrastructure, such as agreements, technical standards and
operational rules, in order to create seamless economic corridors. A 30 per
cent decline in cross-border transaction costs and import tariffs would
generate 1.8 per cent GDP growth for China and from 5.3 to 16.9 per cent
growth for the countries linked by the Belt and Road Initiative.

ESCAP’s research shows that aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can facilitate delivery of
transboundary Sustainable Development Goals and lay the foundations for
equitable, inclusive and low carbon development. The research also shows
that an integrated cross-sectoral approach the infrastructure development
can lead to strong efficiency gains and costs savings through use of shared
rights of way, and other complementarities.

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